I misspoke, sorry. I meant that Ubisoft could allow Activision to free T4B, Beenox, Raven, and High Moon through its support studios that could possibly help Activision with the COD license. Ubisoft also owns FreeStyleGames, which was owned by Activision and could handle Guitar Hero’s return. Sorry if that was unclear or if I’m on the wrong way.
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I think that Beenox, T4B etc. will be free as soon as COD stops being annual - Microsoft will have a leeway in delaying games and so on.
Raven is unfortunately stuck with COD for quite a while as Warzone requires too much support.
I wonder if that will be enough.
Maybe SHG could take care of Warzone and COD support.
SHG?
Hard to say. We have 3 core COD studios now and bunch of support studios. I would not be surprised if Microsoft will hire external studios to support COD while e-rated studios will return to e-rated games.
Sledgehammer Games. It’s a studio that was created for COD and has never really convinced on its own games compared to IW or Treyarch.
We’ve seen the issues with using external studios with Halo Infinite. It could be interesting for Microsoft to have its own support studios. I know you don’t like Ubisoft, but I find it quite interesting for what it offers and the possible collaboration with Xbox and Activision. Moreover, it would be a really good point for the GP. I wonder if this was considered by Microsoft.
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I wonder if ubisoft is still in the table, it is clear that tencent is interested on it and the guillermot family doesnt want to lose control, but I still believe that ubisoft will be a great get for xbox, if people believe that phil and his team will fix abk then I dont know why they couldnt do the same for ubisoft, of course I am talking after years, you cant fix an entire publisher in 1 or 2 years
Ubisoft could solve xbox problem with getting support studios aswell that they will get a ton of new developers to work on gamepass content, ubisoft could easily bring back xbox, activision and their own ips aswell create new ones
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I feel like the deal with Tencent is a way to buy time until the ABK deal is done. Ubisoft has always been close to Microsoft and Guillemot is close to retirement, it would make sense for him to sell to Microsoft for a nice bonus. I don’t think it’s very difficult to fix Ubisoft. Studios simply need to regain financial support and creative freedom. What Microsoft will offer them without problem. Ubisoft would also be perfect for working on the SEGA catalog (which is also an organic choice) in the event of an acquisition. It could be a very interesting choice for the future, especially for such a ridiculous price.
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Great list for Bethesda and Xbox Game Studios, as for Activision it would be funny if MS was to buy Epic and with that purchase you get Harmonix, so they could work on Guitar Hero again.
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I dont think that Halo Infinite issues stem from the support studios though.
Well, the reason why companies hire external studios is to save money and so they won’t run into the same situation as Ubisoft. By hiring external studios it is easier to scale in and scale out and also you save a lot of money too.
Next acquisition will be 100% in Japan (we should probably go with Asia just to be safe 
)
EPIC is too big, but Ubisoft owns FreeStyleGames which was owned by Activision and developed DJ Hero and Guitar Hero Live.
These are hypotheses that have been raised, I do not know if they are true or not. In any case, I think having their own support will always be easier for them.
When you become as big as Microsoft, is it possible to continue like this? I don’t think the number of studios is Ubisoft’s main problem. And even if it did, using them for Xbox and Activision would probably fix that.
It is indeed possible, and I will be very happy about it, but I continue to think that Ubisoft remains a very interesting option, and perfectly compatible with the acquisition of an Asian publisher like SEGA or Capcom. Ubisoft would also allow Microsoft to expand into other regions of the world (Europe, India, China, etc.). Ubisoft also has interesting technologies and services for the cloud, anti-cheat, open world creation, mobile, localization, online store, etc.
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I know it’s preferred, but does every acquisition need to be a needle mover? As Game Pass settles, the best needle mover will be consistent and quality output. And they can do that with studios and new IP. One off acquisitions are still very valuable.
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I would say that ubisoft has a fantastic legacy, and it is clear that with freedom and support they could do great games again(fenyx, mario + rabbids)
I think is boring to hear the same things over and over again but damm I will never shut up about the output that ubisoft could have on gamepass
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Yes, because Microsoft also fires people no? It is not like they just increase their workforce forever. They hire support studios all the time - like Bethesda hired 2 studios to work on FO76. Iron Galaxy, Sumo, CE worked on other MSFT despite not being owned. I think there is always a market to hire support studios without acquiring them.
Every company tends to fire people, or you really believe that at certain point xbox isnt going to get rid of people from their studios? From bethesda? From activision? From blizzard? From king? From any publisher or developer they get next?
We arent saying “buy every support studio” but atleast the ones that could help you more with your games, it is clear that several AAA games still needs a ton of help and isnt enough to just hire some studios, having ubisoft isnt going to solve that problem but atleast it will help significantly
Why not? How many studios do you think participate in TLOU2 development without being owned by Sony?
The point of this is? Yea dude, there is always going to be a point where you still need to hire other external studios, but it seems like you just hate the idea of xbox investing on them
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It is not like I hate that, I just explain why company tend not to acquire support studios independently. Sure if studio is making some unique IP, I would not be surprised that MSFT might buy them (would not be surprised that Monster Hunter game from CE is their attempt to be acquired).
Good shout! I definitely think there is an opportunity for Ubisoft to help out with ABK’s back catalogue of titles.
Even if the ABK acquisition doesn’t go through the catalogue of Xbox games (current and dormant) would offer plenty of opportunities for Ubisoft to support ‘X’ studio or even work on it standalone. If we look at nearly any of the current Xbox projects they have a support studio working on them in some regard (which isn’t cheap!).
I still see Ubisoft’s massive talented workforce as a huge bonus instead of a negative as others do on this forum. When you consider how many support studios they have which could help improve the delivery of Xbox projects it’s a big win.
The positives are huge for Xbox, they could expand Xbox across nearly every continent (except Antarctica), they have even recently invested in three African studios. Xbox has been clear for a while that they want to expand into different countries and Ubisoft ticks that box.
Ubisoft has some of the most popular third person action adventure games which is a genre that Xbox first party sorely need… (when compared to their main competitor in console) another tick!
Ubisoft are always in Xbox’s most played games… Xbox keep saying they want high engagement… another tick.
Ubisoft’s output is very high, fantastic for something like a subscription service (GamePass) as it will ensure they hit a regular flow of content, also their back catalogue is absolutely humongous, one of the biggest in terms of publishers which will add a tonne of content to GP overnight… huge tick!
Ubisoft also have a number of family friendly offerings such as Rabbids, Rayman, Just Dance, Hasbro and TrackMania etc which Xbox keep saying they need more of… yet another tick.
Ubisoft aren’t afraid to work on pop culture games (which Xbox need) such as their upcoming Avatar and Star Wars games… tick.
Ubisoft also release games on a wide range of platforms which Xbox are trying to do… tick.
When given their freedom they show they still have plenty of creativity such as Immortals Fenyx Rising and Rabbids etc, also it may help Xbox build a better relationship with Nintendo (especially if they get SEGA too).
In addition to their mobile offerings, Xbox could also acquire Gameloft and expand their mobile offerings.
The list goes on and on…
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Reminder that Guillemots haven’t been involved with Gameloft since Vivendi forced a takeover in 2016 which is why they were fighting so hard against them taking a big stake in Ubisoft.
Not saying that MSFT couldn’t approach Vivendi but they’re not related management. Wasn’t sure if you were connecting them or not 
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Sorry yes I was aware, I meant in terms of if they want mobile teams which are familiar with working on Ubisoft titles. Granted it’s been a few years but they use to work on Ubisoft titles quite regularly when the brother of Yves was in charge.
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